A Roll In the Hay

There is something ludicrous about a goat with a full udder rolling on the ground scratching her back, legs in the air, distended teats waving around.  The girls are just beginning to shed their winter coats and even though I brush them daily, this must be a particularly itchy process.  (One of the disadvantages of living alone is trying to scratch that unreachable spot on one's back, so I know just how they feel.)  Goats, unlike their cousins the deer, are not particularly graceful animals on their best days, and rolling around in the dry alfalfa does not show them to good advantage.  Goats have short legs in relation to body length and unless they're in a full-out panicky gallop, they tend to run like hobby-horses, which is an amusing sight in itself.

I've found that one way to keep myself from feeling "penniless" (which I certainly felt after going to the grocery store!) is to spend a few shekels on something frivolous.  While I should have been doing something else to get ready for Dolly's visit, I planted a hanging basket with six dollars' worth of bright petunias and alyssum.  The already banged-up budget won't miss those pennies, and I'll get a lot more than six dollars in pleasure watching those flowers grow.

Now I really must dust before Dolly arrives.